I saw a quote yesterday that made me pause. Amidst all of the other inspirational quotes out there (lots, right?) this one hit home for some reason.

"Who will you encourage today?" -mindbodygreen

I stopped scrolling. I read it to my husband. I thought about it. I thought about how in our every day routines we all run into so many people -- parents, kids, grandparents, teachers, friends, coworkers -- and you may never know whose day could be transformed by a little dose of encouragement. Not the big, over the top kind, but the small, subtle, quiet kind. An encouraging word. A kind gesture. A genuine smile. So after all of this deep thought (ha) I made a promise to myself to 1) look for encouragement and 2) do something to encourage someone today.

Turns out, I didn't have to look far. I saw it today in one of my classes. This is the 2nd week of this particular class and we are having some serious fun. I was leading the kids through a kid-friendly "yoga flow" which goes a little something like this: "Butterfly up! (butterfly fingers flutter up, up, up to Mountain Pose). Butterfly down! (butterfly fingers go down and they touch their toes in Rag Doll pose). JUMP BACK!! (they actually plant their hands on their mat and JUMP quickly back -- with both feet at the same time -- into Plank Pose). This is actually pretty challenging to do for little ones and many couldn't do this last week. Most fall over the first time! But this week, almost everyone did it (big smiles and pride at this point by the way). However, there was one little yogi who was hesitant and just not sure. Before I could offer help or say anything, his friend looked straight at him and said, "You know what I do? I pretend I am a lizard and I shoot my legs back like a tail. It's cool! Try!" Encouragement. Subtle encouragement. Kids encouraging kids. Pretty awesome. And you know what? On the next round (we do 3), I hear, "I DID IT!!!" Yep. He did it. So proud, SO happy, and a big, huge smile.

The quiet power of encouragement is pretty amazing. It was a good reminder for me and seeing it happen between kids was even better.

Have a great night, my friends!
Ali